Mark 15
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 15
Jesus before Pilate.[a] 1 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a council with the elders and the scribes and the whole Sanhedrin. They bound Jesus and led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said so.” 3 Then the chief priests brought many charges against him. 4 Again, Pilate questioned him, “Have you no answer to offer? Just consider how many charges they are leveling against you.” 5 But Jesus offered no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
Jesus Is Sentenced to Death. 6 Now on the occasion of the feast, he released a prisoner to them, anyone for whom they asked.[b] 7 At the time, a man named Barabbas was in prison along with some rebels who had committed murder during an uprising. 8 When the crowd came forward and began to ask him to do the customary favor for them, 9 Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?”[c] 10 For he realized that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over.
11 However, the chief priests incited the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate then asked, “And what shall I do with the man you call the king of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14 Pilate asked them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they only screamed all the louder, “Crucify him!” 15 And so Pilate, anxious to appease the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and after ordering Jesus to be scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.
16 Jesus Is Crowned with Thorns.[d] Then the soldiers led Jesus away inside the palace, that is, the Praetorium, and they called the whole cohort together. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they placed it on him. 18 Then they began to salute him with the words, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They repeatedly struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down before him in homage. 20 And when they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of his purple robe and dressed him in his own clothes. Then they led him out to crucify him.
21 The Way of the Cross.[e] They compelled a passer-by who was returning from the country to carry his cross. The man was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
22 Jesus Is Crucified. They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. 23 They offered him some wine that had been mixed with myrrh, but he refused to take it. 24 Then they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to see what each should take.[f]
25 It was around nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.[g] 26 The inscription giving the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 Along with him they crucified two thieves, one on his right and the other on his left. [ 28 Thus was the Scripture fulfilled that says, “And he was counted among the wicked.”][h]
29 Those people who passed by jeered at him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who claimed you could destroy the temple and rebuild it within three days, 30 save yourself and come down from the cross.”
31 In much the same way, the chief priests and the scribes joined in the mockery among themselves, saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross right now so that we may see it and come to believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
33 Jesus Dies on the Cross.[i] Beginning at midday, there was darkness over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
35 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.” 36 Someone ran off, soaked a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”
37 Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice and breathed his last. 38 And the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion who was standing facing him saw how Jesus had breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
40 A number of women were also present, looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger[j] and of Joses, and Salome. 41 These women used to follow Jesus when he was in Galilee and minister to his needs. And there were many other women there who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
42 Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb.[k] It was the Day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath. So when evening came, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also awaiting the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate and requested the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, and he summoned the centurion to ascertain that Jesus had indeed died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that such was the case, he turned over the body to Joseph.
46 Having purchased a linen shroud, he lowered Jesus from the cross, wrapped him in the shroud, and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock. He then rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was buried.
Footnotes
- Mark 15:1 See notes on Mt 27:11-26 and 27:11.
- Mark 15:6 Outside the Gospels no such Passover privilege is explicitly found in other sources. However, this does not mean it didn’t exist.
- Mark 15:9 According to Mark, Barabbas had been arrested in a rebellion, possibly in a political rebellion against the Romans. Thus, he was a hero with the people and fed their national pride. When Herod brings forth Jesus as the King of the Jews, the same people will have none of it—a Messiah reduced to a pitiful state, chained, and despised!
- Mark 15:16 See note on Mt 27:27-31.
- Mark 15:21 Those condemned to death were usually forced to carry the crossbeam of the cross, often 30 to 40 pounds, to the place of crucifixion. Jesus starts out by doing the same (see Jn 19:7), but he is so weak as a result of his scourging and overall ill-treatment that the soldiers decide to have someone else take over that task. The man chosen is Simon, a man from Cyrene, an important city of Libya, North Africa, with a large Jewish population, who is probably in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. Alexander and Rufus: the sons are named probably because they were known to the early Christians to whom Mark’s Gospel is addressed.
- Mark 15:24 See note on Mt 27:35.
- Mark 15:25 Mark sketches the Passion in a quasi-liturgical fashion and as it were in thirds: the coming together of the Sanhedrin at the first hour (6 A.M.); crucifixion at the third hour (9 A.M.); darkness at the sixth hour (12 P.M.); and death at the ninth hour (3 P.M.). The “third hour,” however, must be taken in a wide sense, between 9 A.M. and 12 P.M., for Jesus was crucified at 12 P.M. (see Jn 19:14). See also note on Mt 27:35.
- Mark 15:28 This verse is omitted by the best manuscripts.
- Mark 15:33 After hours on the cross, there comes a final humiliation (v. 36). While God remains silent, the crucified Jesus cries out his aloneness in the words of Ps 22:2, and breathes his last. But the work of Jesus has been completed. The end of Judaism has come, signified by the tearing of the curtain of the temple. Even now a pagan recognizes Jesus as the Son of God; this is the first time in Mark’s Gospel that a human being is allowed to give him this title.
- Mark 15:40 James the younger: this James is known as “the Lesser,” to distinguish him from the other apostle of the same name, the son of Zebedee and brother of John. From Mt 27:56 we know that Salome was the wife of Zebedee.
- Mark 15:42 The burial of Jesus is arranged by Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Sanhedrin who had not consented to the decision of that body concerning Jesus (see Lk 23:51). Matthew calls Joseph a “rich man” (Mt 27:57), which recalls the text of Isaiah’s prophecy about the Suffering Servant (53:9: “They assigned him a grave with the wicked and a burial place with evildoers”).
Mark 15
New Matthew Bible
The passion of Christ. Of his death and burial.
15 And early in the dawning, the high priests consulted with the elders and the scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus and led him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
2 And Pilate asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? And he answered and said to him, It is as you say. 3 And the high priests accused him of many things. 4 So Pilate asked him again, saying, Do you answer nothing? Look how many things they lay to your charge. 5 But Jesus still answered never a word, so that Pilate marvelled.
6 At that feast it was Pilate’s custom to release to the people, at their pleasure, a prisoner – whomever they desired. 7 And there was one named Barabbas, who lay bound with those who had made insurrection, and in the insurrection had committed murder. 8 And the people called to Pilate and began to ask that he do as usual for them. 9 Pilate answered them and said, Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? 10 For he knew that the high priests had delivered him out of envy. 11 But the high priests had moved the people to have Barabbas released to them instead.
12 And Pilate answered again and said to them, What will you have me do then with him whom you call the king of the Jews? 13 And they cried again, Crucify him! 14 Pilate said to them, What evil has he done? And they cried the more fervently, Crucify him!
15 And so Pilate, choosing to appease the people, released Barabbas to them, and delivered Jesus, when had scourged him, to be crucified.
16 And the soldiers led him away into the common hall, and called together the whole company. 17 And they clothed him with purple, and they plaited a crown of thorns and crowned him with it, 18 and began to pay mock homage to him: Hail, King of the Jews! 19 And they struck him on the head with a reed, and spat upon him, and kneeled down and worshipped him.
20 And when they had mocked him, they took the purple off him and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. 21 And they compelled a man who was passing by, called Simon of Cyrene (who was coming out of the field, and was the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear his cross. 22 And they brought him to a place named Golgotha (which translated is, the place of dead men’s skulls). 23 And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but he would not receive it.
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots for them, what every man should have. 25 And it was about the third hour, and they crucified him. 26 And the notice of his accusation was written: the king of the jews. 27 And they crucified with him two thieves, one on the right hand and the other on his left. 28 And the scripture was fulfilled which says, He was counted among the wicked.
29 And people who were going by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, Ah, wretch, who destroys the temple and builds it in three days! 30 Save yourself, and come down from the cross!
31 Likewise also the high priests mocked him among themselves with the scribes, and said, He saved other men; himself he cannot save. 32 Let Christ the King of Israel now descend from the cross, so that we may see and believe.
And those who were crucified with him reviled him also.
33 And when the sixth hour was come, darkness arose over all the earth until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, if it be translated, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
35 And some of the people who were standing by, when they heard that, said, Look, he is calling for Elijah. 36 And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed and gave him to drink, saying, Let him alone. Let’s see if Elijah will come and take him down.
37 But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and gave up the spirit. 38 And the veil of the temple did tear in two pieces, from the top to the bottom. 39 And when the centurion who stood before Jesus saw that he so cried out and gave up the spirit, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
40 There were also women a good way off beholding him, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Little and of Joses, and Mary Salome, 41 who also, when he was in Galilee, had followed him and ministered to him, and many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
42 And now when night was come (because it was the Preparation, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a noble councillor, who also looked for the kingdom of God. He went in bravely to Pilate and requested the body of Jesus. 44 And Pilate marvelled that he was already dead, and called for the centurion, and asked him if Jesus was already dead. 45 And when he knew the truth from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
46 And Joseph bought a linen cloth, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone to the opening of the sepulchre. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary Joses saw where he was laid.
Copyright © 2016 by Ruth Magnusson (Davis). Includes emendations to February 2022. All rights reserved.